Return to Me
by YuHtje
Summary: After a mission gone horribly wrong, Soul and his team loose a precious member. Seeking revenge, Soul and Black*Star are looking for the witch who caused this pain. Little do they know, that there's a lot more going on without them knowing. And when the truth comes out, can it all be like it used to? Or will the feeling of betrayal take Soul over?
1. Prologue

_It had all gone so wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen_

"Maka!" Soul shouted to his meister, who was laying like a rag doll on the ground. Her leg was bent in an awkward angle, her skin was broken by scratches and bruises but what worried the weapon most were her eyes. The emerald orbs, usually sparkling with life, were clouded over by a haze as she was staring at something above her.

Soul felt the wavelength between them shaking. As if it was hanging on by a threat.

No this couldn't be happening! He thought desperately. "Maka, listen to me! Stay with me!"

_It wasn't supposed to be so hard to stop the witch. She wasn't supposed to be this strong._

"Soul, how's she holding up?" Kid asked worried. He looked over his shoulder and saw his friend bend over the small blond. His words didn't seem to reach Soul but he couldn't repeat himself since his attention was being pulled back to his target ahead of him.

"Maka don't you dare do this to me!" Soul growled. He stroked her cheek, leaving a blood smear. His hands had become coated in crimson when he'd tried to stop the gaping wound at Maka's side.

"S – Soul?" Maka whispered, her eyes finally seeming to find her partner's. If Soul hadn't payed close attention to her, he would've missed it.

But of course he didn't. He'd never stop paying attention to Maka. "Maka stay with me! I swear to Death I'll never forgive you if you leave me."

Maka smiled a little. "You're not getting that easily rid of me." she said before her body shook in a cough attack. To Soul's horror he saw blood coming from her mouth.

"You're going to be okay Maka, I promise!" Soul said, pulling Maka in his arms. "Where are the reinforcements?"

Maka slipped her hand in Soul's and pinched it a little before she suddenly became dead weight, eyes closed.

"Maka no! God damn it Maka, open your eyes!" Soul cried.

From a distance he heard the helicopters coming their way.


	2. Promises

**Ten months later.**

Soul opened his eyes in an almost robotic way. Another nightmare.

He looked at his nightstand, checking the time. Three am. It was too early to get up and ready for school. But Soul, knowing he couldn't get to sleep anymore, got up and dressed.

He half expected/half hoped Maka would come to his room to check on him but she didn't.

She couldn't. There wasn't a Maka anymore.

When the helicopters had come to the battlefield to pick the team up, they immediately took Maka to the hospital. She'd been in surgery for three hours before Soul and the others received the news.

Maka had died of her injuries. The witch had escaped. Everything had been for nought.

They lost their dear friend for nothing.

Soul had been so angry that he almost threw himself at the surgeon, had it not been for Black*Star and Kid. Liz had gone into a state of hysteria, saying that it was impossible. That they made a mistake and that Maka would be waiting for them in one of the hundred hospital rooms. She'd even ran off to look for her.

Patti had gone into a corner, rocking her small body back and forth, whispering, "This is not happening," over and over. And Black*Star, he'd been beyond angry. He wanted to go after the witch that had caused them this pain but Tsubaki had stopped him.

In fact, Tsubaki and Kid were the only ones that seemed to keep it all together. Kid had had an icy calmness on him as he talked with the surgeon and Tsubaki had been busy talking sense into Black*Star.

And then came the mourning process. Shinigami had given the team some time off to cope with the loss. Spirit and Soul had taken the task of her funeral on their shoulders. Not even three weeks after the battle they had set a funeral up. Soul was shell shocked when he saw all the people coming up to attend the service. Nearly half Death City wanted to pay their respects for the loss of the young meister.

Words were said, tears were shed, music was played. Soul felt his heart crack when he heard Maka's favorite song play over the stereo. A sweet piano lullaby.

Even back then he refused to accept that his partner, his friend, his soulmate, was gone. But the realization had hit him like a ton of bricks when he stood by her gravestone, alone. And he'd cried and cursed and slammed his fist on the ground.

Tsubaki was the one who found him, tired and angry and sad.

"_Soul," Tsubaki gasped when she found the weapon kneeled down at the fresh grave._

"_I can't leave Tsubaki." Soul said back. His voice strained. "I can't leave her here alone."_

_And instead of trying to convince him to come with her, Tsubaki stood beside him. "I'm so sorry Soul," she whispered. "I – we all loved her so much. And we'll all miss her so much."_

_Soul shook his head. "I never got to tell her how much she meant to me. That I loved her."_

_Tsubaki smiled a little at him, though it was a sad smile. "She knew that you loved her, Soul. And she loved you back in equal passion. You never knew but she talked all the time about you. You meant the world to her."_

Soul didn't know – and still doesn't know – if the words brought him comfort or dread. He walked the kitchen in and made some breakfast for himself.

Those little things, making food, watching TV, doing the laundry, pained him. For he knew there wouldn't be soft humming when Maka would make food, or playful argument when Soul would watch a game while she wanted to watch some lame documentary, of Soul wouldn't find her laundry between his in the hamper.

Soul felt his appetite leave his body but he forced himself to eat. He had to keep his shit together. Maka would've never forgiven him if he let himself fall into the depression. So he ate his cereals and did the dishes. Then he walked past the living room, to Maka's room. He always did this whenever he woke up from a nightmare. He needed his meister's comfort.

Her room was still as neat as ever. Desk cleared up, books placed neatly on the shelves, papers stored in a folder. Soul walked over to the bookcase and scanned the titles.

Mostly heavy reads about technicians and weapons. Techniques, history, whatever not. But there was also novels. Soul picked one up and flipped through it.

He noticed how there were small pencil written words around the margins. Soul sat down on Maka's bed and started to read. Not the story – he couldn't give shit about the story – but the little notes Maka had written. Small theories, things that stood out for her. It was like Soul had a little peak in what used to go inside his meister's head whenever she was reading.

His thoughts got disrupted when he felt his cellphone buzz in his pocket. To his surprise it was Black*Star. 'Have a lead on the witch. You in or not?'

Soul frowned. Black*Star had started a hunt on the witch who got away. It was almost unhealthy how he determined he was to find her. But Soul wanted revenge just as bad as Black*Star so whenever the ninja found a lead, he notified Soul.

Soul texted him back, saying he'd be at his place in a few minutes before turning back to the book. After giving it one last look he put it back on the shelve and left the room. He grabbed his jacket and left the apartment.

When he reached Black*Star and Tsubaki's apartment the door was already open. Soul found the young ninja sitting on the ground. Papers surrounded him and there was a laptop on his lap.

"How long have you stayed up?" Soul asked.

"Haven't slept."

Soul raised a brow. "Does Tsubaki know?"

Black*Star shook his head. "She went early to bed. Said I wouldn't stay up too long."

"Looks like you kept that promise," Soul said sarcastically.

That caught Black*Star's attention. He looked over at the weapon with a frown. "I heard something about the witch. Wanted to see if it was right."

"What did you hear?"

"They say Maka did more to the witch than just give her a nasty beat up," - Soul flinched a little at his meister's name - "With her last attack she was able to make a crack in the witch's soul. A small part of her Grigori Soul was taken with the blow and is now making its way in the witch. People say she's starting to fall apart."

Soul's eyes were big in disbelieve. She had been able to put a piece of her soul in the witch?

"Those are rumors but still... it's better than nothing." Black*Star mumbled somberly.

"Any idea where she is now?" Soul wanted to know. Unfortunately the ninja shook his head.

"Tried to find her but it's like she's wiped off of the earth." Of course, the witch was hiding out.

She was becoming vulnerable.

"We have to find her!" Soul said, suddenly determined.

"What?"

"She's becoming weak! We can probably kill her if we find her!"

"Soul, even if we find her, we can't be sure that she is weaker. Like I said, they're all rumors." Black*Star protested.

"Guys," Tsubaki's voice stopped Soul from firing back at the blue haired boy. They both turned and found Tsubaki standing in the doorway, a worried frown set between her brows. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing Tsu, go back to bed," Black*Star said. He didn't want his meister to know about the rumor. It could give her false hope. It already did for Soul and he wanted to save the girl from the pain.

"Sure?" Tsubaki asked, still worried.

The boys nodded. "I'll wake you when we have to get ready for school," Black*Star promised.

After a nod from the girl, she left for her bedroom.

"Black*Star, I have to think like the rumors are right. I have to find that witch and kill her. I owe it to Maka." Soul mumbled.

"How will you do that?" Black*Star asked. "You have no meister."

"I'll use the black blood. I'll figure something out. All I know is that I can't let her get away."

Black*Star saw the pain and desperation in his friend's eyes. The loss of Maka had hit the whole team but Soul had it the worst. He lost his meister and closest friend. Black*Star couldn't imagine Tsubaki leaving his side. It would hurt like a bitch. He'd do anything to make things right. So he knew he had to support Soul in this. "I'll help," he promised.


	3. Visit

**To: Parisian devision**

**From: Tsubaki  
Subject: New Lead**

**Black*Star found a new lead. Didn't catch it really well but it's said that the witch is getting weaker. Soul is getting involved. I'll try to keep him away from the idea to go after her. Not sure if it'll work. I'll keep you posted.**

**Stay safe,**

**Tsubaki**

**To: Tsubaki Nakatsukasa  
From: Parisian devision  
Subject: Re:New Lead**

**Thank you for letting heard from you. I will get on it. Make sure to keep Soul away from it. Should things happen, notify ASAP. Does Kid know?**

Soul woke up from a poke in his ribs. "Wake up Soul, we have to go," Liz said.

Soul raised his head and saw the tall blond looking a little worried at him. He hated it.

He caught his friends sending worried glances at him all the time. It was annoying as fuck! He didn't need their pity. Didn't want it.

He pushed himself out of his seat and walked the classroom out. They all decided to go to Kid after school. He followed them out of Shibusen, to the mansion.

Liz and Patti were busy talking, Black*Star was showing Tsubaki his muscles, saying he needed to work out more, and Kid was walking next to Soul in silence.

"Can I help you or something?" Soul asked a little annoyed.

"How are you doing Soul?" Kid asked politely.

"Fine."

Kid didn't seem to believe him but he let it slide. "Heard you and Black*Star found some rumor about the witch that killed Maka."

Soul flinched at Kid's hard words. He nodded. "It's said that Maka put a small part of her soul in her final attack on the witch and that it is now working its way into her, destroying her from the inside out." Soul looked at his friend. "Is it possible?"

Kid shrugged. "Not really sure. I've never seen it happen."

Soul nodded. They continued their walk in silence. Both boys occupied by their thoughts.

It wasn't until they reached the mansion that Soul realized everyone had gone quiet. Even Black*Star. "What's going on?" Soul asked.

"Tsubaki came up with a idea but we're not sure if you're okay with it," Liz admitted.

Soul looked at Tsubaki, curious. "Well, spill it out."

"I just thought, maybe we could go to Maka. It has been a while. We can bring some food with us." Tsubaki said softly, then quickly added, "If you're okay with of course."

Soul grimaced. "Yeah sure." he said. Only to stop their pitiful looks.

Tsubaki took the task of preparing food while the others waited for her. In ten minutes she was back with a picnic basket and they walked to Death City's cemetery.

There was a special section set up for weapons and meisters in the back. They followed the path and soon found Maka's grave.

**Maka Albarn **

**Born september 12 1997**

**Passed august 13 2015**

**** meister**

The words stabbed Soul's eyes from the moment he looked at the stone. "You were almost eighteen," He realized out loud. "It was almost your birthday."

He felt his friends' concerned eyes on him but Soul ignored it. Instead, he just sat down next to the grave and started removing the weeds.

The others started to help him. Patti found some small pretty flowers and replaced them with the old ones, Liz wiped the stone clean with the rag Tsubaki brought with her and Black*Star lit a little candle for her. When they were all finished they joined Soul on the ground. Tsubaki passed sandwiches around and they ate in silence.

"Okay, favorite thing about Maka?" Black*Star asked when he couldn't take the pressing silence anymore.

The team looked a little surprised at him. Liz was the first one to answer, "Her courage."

"Her hair," Patti joined.

"I think I'll join Patti on the hair department," Kid agreed. "Her pigtails were always perfectly symmetrical."

Black*Star rolled his eyes while the others chuckled. Even Soul smirked.

"I liked her calm spirit a lot," Tsubaki added to the list.

"What calm spirit?" Soul asked, still smirking. "Haven't you noticed her temper?"

"Yeah!" Black*Star joined. "You obviously never had a Maka chop!"

Tsubaki giggled. "Because I wasn't acting like an idiot."

"Who are you calling an idiot? Apologize to your god immediately!"

The team laughed. It felt good to laugh. They hadn't done it in a long time.

"I uhm – my favorite thing about her was her kindness. Not only to us, but to everyone who needed help," Soul mumbled. "When we were in Rome, right before we met Crona, there were some punks who looked for a fight. Nothing exciting happened but they were really annoying. Later, Maka detected their souls, together with Crona's. She somehow knew they were in trouble and she wanted to help them. Even though those assholes wanted to hurt her a couple of hours before."

Kid smirked. "That sure sounds like our Maka."

The others nodded in agreement. And so they started sharing stories and fond memories, while the sun was slowly setting under the horizon.


	4. A worried star

**To: Tsubaki Nakatsukasa  
From: Parisian devision  
Subject: Calm before the storm.**

**Tsubaki, I have a bad feeling. Is everything going alright in Death City?  
Are the others okay?  
I don't know why I'm feeling this unease. Like something bad is about to happen. I contacted Death but he said everything is peaceful and quiet in the world.  
Do you know if Black*Star found another lead on the witch? We can't seem to find her.**

**Let me know when something happens.**

Tsubaki looked with worry at her screen. Long time to think about it, wasn't. Black*Star and Soul were sitting in the other room and could sneak up on her anytime. So she quickly clicked it away, deciding to respond later to it, and walked back to the living room where the two boys were playing a violent video game.

"Uhm, Black*Star," Tsubaki said softly. Still, the blue haired ninja heard her.

"What's up Tsu?" he asked her without breaking concentration on the screen.

"I was just wondering, did that rumor about Maka's soul, did it turned out to be false?"

That caught Black*Star's attention. He paused the game – earning a cry of protest from Soul – and turned to his weapon. "Why are you asking?"

Tsubaki rubbed the back of her neck, trying to seem casual. "Just curious," she lied.

Black*Star didn't seem to buy it but went along with it anyway, "We're not sure yet if it's true or false. We wanted to go to Shinigami-sama to ask if it was possible."

Tsubaki nodded. "Any other leads?"

Black*Star shook his head, eyeing his weapon suspiciously. Tsubaki was twisting her ponytail in her hands, a sign of nervousness. Gently he took her hands away from her hair and gave her a smile. He had to keep faith that nothing was bothering his weapon.

"Oi, Black*Star! Start the game already!" Soul growled.

Black*Star turned back to his friend, his hyper spirit back in check. "Who are you to command your god?" he asked with a melodramatic voice.

"Come on Black*Star! Quit the drama and keep on playing."

But Black*Star didn't listen to Soul. Instead he jumped at the white haired boy and knocked them both on the ground. "You need to learn where your place is, in this house," he told the struggling Soul.

"Cut it out already you moron!" Soul growled.

Tsubaki watched the boys fight with an amused smile. As Black*Star was yelling phrases of worship about himself, Tsubaki realized she had to be more careful.

Though the ninja may look oblivious to everything, he certainly wasn't. They met eyes for a second before Black*Star broke the contact, being pushed off of Soul.

"Moron!" Soul grumbled as he straightened his shirt. He didn't even try to fix his hair, it was too messy to fix.

Tsubaki remembered a time where Maka always messed the boy's hair up to tease him. It made her mood drop a little. She missed the young meister very much.

"Hey Tsu!" Black*Star called, pulling Tsubaki out of her thoughts. "When's dinner ready?"

"I'll start right away Black*Star!" Tsubaki said back, smiling a warmly, before heading to the kitchen.

Soul watched the girl leave, then looked at Black*Star. "Everything going okay?" he asked when he saw his friend looking worried at the direction Tsubaki had gone to.

Black*Star quickly turned back to the game. "Of course! A star like me is always okay!" he chimed.

Still, Soul could see a puzzled frown starting to form on the boy's face.

_***Hi guys, sorry for another short chapter. It's just that I try to finish a chapter with a nice end. not some halfway - mid cut crap... so bear with me.**_  
_**I will post a long chapter very soon.**_

_**Stay cool!***_


	5. Dream

**Two chapters on one day? What is this madness?  
JK, thought you guys deserved something extra since the past three chapters had been so short.  
This is still short but I promise you, the next one will be longer! Sh*t is about to go down!**

**So anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Leave a review if you want to and I'll see you guys soon!**

**(****_btw: has anyone figured out who's e-mailing with Tsubaki? ;p)_**

"_Soul! Help me!" Maka called out._

_Soul looked desperately around him, trying to find his meister, but she was nowhere to be found._

"_Tick tock," he heard a very familiar voice whisper in his ear._

_Soul turned and saw the little red demon standing by the piano, looking extremely amused. "Where is she!" he asked._

_The little demon smiled even wider – Soul didn't know it was possible. "You can't save her scythe boy."_

_Soul set his jaw. "Watch me!" he dared and walked past the demon, to the door. He yanked it open, only to enter a pitch black room. There were no lit candles, no piano, no tiled floor and – to his relief – no red little demon. _

_But the darkness was pressing down on him, making it harder for him to breath. A force pushed him into the room and he was surrounded by black. _

_It was so quiet, only his breathing filled his ears. Then a dripping noise._

"_What the -!" Soul mumbled and followed the noise. It got louder and louder each second that he walked._

_At one point Soul had to stop because his head was filled with the deafening noise of the dripping. He fell to his knees and clutched his head, hoping that it would soften the sound. It didn't._

_Out of nowhere a bright white spotlight flashed on. Soul had to cover his eyes to fight the sudden light that attacked him. Once his eyes were used to it, he saw that someone was standing in the spotlight. Soul couldn't make out facial features but he knew it was _her _the moment he reached the edge of the spotlight._

"_Soul," he heard her say. It was like she was a siren, calling out for him, and he was the poor sailor, falling right into her trap._

_Soul looked her over. She looked like she used to. Alive and pretty. Those green emeralds sparked with a happiness that stabbed him in the gut. "Maka, how?" he asked. "I'm dreaming aren't I?"_

_Maka nodded and reached her hand out to him. "It's okay though."_

_Soul couldn't fight the urge to take her hand. He knew that, once he'd wake up, it would hurt like a bitch, but for now he was happy to ignore it. He needed her in his arms. Even if it was just a dream. So he took her hand, and pulled her into his body. His arms wrapped around her small body, nose pressed into her hair. It felt real. She felt real. "I missed you so much. More than you can imagine."_

_Maka giggled. "I think I have an idea."_

"_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

_A gloved hand touched Soul's cheek. "For what?" she asked, ever so gently._

"_I couldn't save you. I couldn't protect you. I failed you as your partner." Soul whispered hoarsely in her hair. He let all the guilt wash over him._

_Maka chuckled, but it sounded tired. "... not your fault," she whispered back, barely audible. "I was so stupid to dive in."_

_Soul pulled back alarmed, and watched in horror how a gaping hole started to form in his meister's side. Scratches and dirt appeared on her face as if someone was painting on her. "No!" he cried, horrified. "No this can't be happening again."_

_Maka smiled sadly at her weapon. "I'm sorry too, Soul," she said. "I never wanted to leave you. I loved you."_

_Soul, feeling desperation take over, took her face in his hands and pulled her into a kiss. It tasted salty, probably from the tears that were rolling down his cheeks, but he couldn't care. When he pulled back he saw Maka's eyes clouding over. "I loved you too," he told her. "I still love you."_

_Maka nodded. "I always thought we'd grow old together. That you would scream at little kids to get off our lawn." she giggled at the fantasy. When she looked back at Soul there was blood coming out of her mouth. "I'm sorry," she repeated before she shattered into a million pieces._

"_Maka!" Soul cried out. But the spotlight turned off and he was left in darkness._


	6. Wake up call

Soul shot up on his bed. Sweat soaking his shirt and the bed sheets.

Furiously, he kicked the covers off of him. "Fuck fuck fuck!" He groaned. He hated dreaming about Maka. It would always give him this heart wrenching pain.

Soul got up and grabbed some clothes. After changing into jeans and t-shirt he left the apartment. He took the motorcycle and drove off. Anywhere better than the lonely apartment.

The sun was just starting to rise as Soul cruised the empty streets of Death City. It was saturday and everyone was still sound asleep. What the hell could he do?

It's not like he could take a mission. He had no meister.

Soul got multiple offers to be someone's weapon but he refused. He didn't know why but he felt like he would betray Maka if he took another partner. Not like Maka would mind.

She'd want him to move on. But he couldn't.

Soul ended up in the desert, just outside the city. Where they'd found Crona, all those months ago. He sat down in the sand and watched how the sky slowly light up by the rising sun.

Weekends were the worst for him. Then everyone was busy doing something.

Black*Star and Tsubaki would go to the gym to train and Kid and the Thompson girls would go on missions.

What would they do on the weekends? Soul thought to himself. Oh yeah right, Maka would wake him and she'd make breakfast for them. Then they'd just stay in the apartment and waste the day. Maka would read and Soul would watch basketball games or play video games.

He didn't know why he couldn't stop thinking about his meister so much lately. Even the nightmares had gotten more vivid lately.

Soul realized it was no use staying in the desert. So he got back on his feet, dusted his clothes off, and returned to his bike. He could use the free time from school to spend it looking for the witch.

Soul couldn't fight a wicked grin when he thought about finding the person who took his angel away from him. From a distance he could hear the little red demon chuckling at Soul's murderous thoughts but he pushed the creature away. He didn't need that little asshole to take his head over.

Soul drove back to Death City and parked his motorcycle at a small diner for some breakfast. To his surprise he saw Spirit walking past him when he was just about to enter the tavern. "Spirit!"

The red haired Death Scythe turned to Soul. "Evans," he said, looking just as surprised as the boy in question. "What are you doing here this early? I don't recall you being a morning person."

"Believe me, I'm not."

Spirit softened a little. It's not like they had become friends but every since the loss of his daughter, they'd bonded more. "How ya doing Soul?"

Soul rubbed the back of his head. "Fine, I guess. You?"

"I'm good."

The two men stood in silence for a couple of seconds. Both not quite knowing what to say or do. "Can I do anything for you?" Spirit finally asked.

"I – I don't know."

Spirit smiled a little. "I was planning to go to Stein. Want to join?"

Fuck, why not? Soul thought and nodded. They left the bike at the diner, and walked to the lab of the doctor. As usual, it felt like Soul entered another world when they reached the front gate Stein's house. With the patchwork building and the pointy branches that lined the path.

"Stein, open up." Spirit called as he knocked the door.

The only answer was the click signing the door being unlocked. Spirit walked through as if it was his own house, followed by Soul.

They found the doctor sitting behind his computer, typing away. His eyes were fixed to the screen like fireflies to light. "Oi, Stein," Spirit said and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

Stein turned while lighting a cigarette. When he looked up he noticed Soul standing next to the Death Scythe. "Didn't know you'd bring company."

Soul scowled but Spirit stepped in before he could say something. "We crossed paths."

Stein checked the time. "At this hour? Seems rather unusual."

"I couldn't sleep okay," Soul interjected. "Had a nightmare so I went out."

"Ah yeah, nightmares. How are they doing?" Stein asked, suddenly sounding interested.

"Still the same. Always about Maka." That made Spirit turn to Soul but the boy ignored his worried frown.

"You know Soul," Stein suddenly said. "I was wondering. About the report you wrote about that fight." Soul tensed but nodded for Stein to continue. "You said you guys were in Soul Resonance when Maka gave her final blow on the witch."

"Yeah, so?"

"I wanted to know, were you still in Soul Resonance when she died?"

Soul frowned. "Not sure, I think so. Why?"

"Well that maybe explains the nightmares about her. You are still linked to her soul, you can't let her go."

The words stung Soul hard but there was a small part of him that agreed with the doctor's words. And he knew what was coming next. "If I want the nightmares to go away, I have to let her soul go, right?" Stein nodded somberly.

"I can't." Soul declared harshly, surprising the doctor and the Death Scythe.

"Soul -!" Spirit tried to reason but Soul interrupted him.

"No you don't understand. I loved her but then I lost her and there doesn't go a day by where I don't miss her. Yeah the nightmares suck but at least she's there with me. I don't want to loose that."

"I understand it. I loved her too," Spirit fired back. "She was my daughter Soul. I lost Kami and now her too. That hurts like a bitch. "But Soul, it has been ten months. We need to move on. You have to move on." He noticed how Soul's eyes – burning fierce just seconds ago – had turned dark with anger and hurt.

"I can't." Soul repeated himself before he turned and stomped out of the laboratory.

The two men watched the young scythe leave but neither made a move to follow him.

"He'll calm down soon enough." Stein assured. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I want to know more about the witch."

Stein nodded in understanding. He knew this was coming. "Her name's Meredith. She was a follower of Medusa. My guess is that she took all those souls to get the interest of Shinigami. And she succeeded. Of course he couldn't send a normal one star meister so he send Maka and the team. Which was fine for Meredith, now she could get a closer look on the team who'd destroyed her master."

"And when she had the chance to wound the team, she took it with both hands." Spirit finished. "An eye for an eye."

Stein nodded again. "But she underestimated Maka's strength though."

That made Spirit snap to attention. "So you say the rumor is true?"

Everyone had heard of the rumor. A young meister had put a piece of her soul in a witch to destroy her from the inside out. A heroic move that saved her team's life but cost her own.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it is. Seeing how strong Maka was." Stein said. "She could summon Kishin Hunter when she was fifteen. You ought to be powerful if you can do that at such a young age, Spirit."

The red head nodded with a proud smile. "She took after her mother." He mumbled.

Soul was on his way back to the diner where he'd left his motorcycle. All the way he was mumbling curses to himself. What was he thinking, stomping off like that? Of course Spirit understood what he was going through. He lost his one and only daughter for fuck's sake.

Stupid pride that got in the way.

Lost in thought, he found his bike and got on it, ready to leave. But Soul stopped himself when he felt eyes on his back. He turned and saw a figure standing in an alley, looking at him.

"What the -!" he mumbled as he got off his bike. A small part of his brain told him to stop and go home. But the other one – the over powering reckless one – urged him to go in the alley.

As soon as he walked the alley in he felt like he left the city behind him. No footsteps, no birds, no wind, just this gut wrenching silence. He was alone. The figure had disappeared. Must've imagined it, Soul thought to himself. He was just about to leave when he felt a wave of nausea wash over him. Soul fell to his knees, hacking. It was a good thing he hadn't eaten anything yet or else it would be sprawled out on the floor now.

"Soul Eater Evans?" A high voice asked.

Soul raised his head and saw a girl standing in front of him. She wore a robe with a hood, covering her body and a big portion of her face. But not enough.

Soul felt himself stagger back when he saw the violet eyes of the girl. The eyes of the witch. "You!" he gasped.

The girl smirked. "So you remember me? I'm pleasantly surprised."

"Of course I remember you," Soul growled, trying to get back on his feet. "You -!" his words got caught in his throat. A burning pain made its way through his body, making it impossible to talk.

The young witch giggled as she removed her hood, showing her face. Or what was left of it.

The skin seemed to be decaying, looking like it could fall off any moment. "Yes, it's me."

"How?" Soul managed to say before he doubled over.

"That little bitch of a meister did this to me," - The witch raised a gloved hand. "I'm falling apart because of that Grigori soul of hers. But that's okay, because you will pay for it."

Soul felt himself being thrown against the brick wall next to him. Pain soared through the left side of his body but he tried to fight it off. This was his chance, he couldn't screw it up.

Soul pushed himself from the wall and made his way to the witch, transforming his arm in a scythe. He didn't get far, for his legs suddenly stopped working on his command.

He stood there, frozen, the witch just out of hand reach from his scythe. "What the fuck!" Soul growled.

The witch giggled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Meredith, and your soul is mine."

Soul felt white heat bubbling up inside him when he heard her say Maka's signature line. But he couldn't do anything. His limbs refused to move.

The last thing he saw was Meredith walking up to him before darkness filled his mind.

***Hi there! Told you I'd post a long chapter? :p Sorry for the terrible dumb name for the witch... :s  
So tell me what you think... any theories about what is going to happen next? School won't start until next friday so I'll still be posting chapters but after that... I dunno, can't promise you anything yet :$**

**Have a nice day!***


	7. It's Time

"Hey Black*Star," Tsubaki whispered as they walked the school in. Their weekend had passed peacefully. They'd spend their saturday at the gym and sunday they went on a mission, which ended up as a succeed for a change. "Have you talked to Soul lately?"

Black*Star, who was walking next to his weapon, eyes closed, opened one eye to look at the girl. She seemed to be nervous. "Ah no, why?"

"Well usually he lets something hear from himself," Tsubaki explained. "I'm a little worried."

Black*Star smiled reassuringly at Tsubaki. "He won't do anything stupid Tsu, don't worry. He'll be fine."

Tsubaki nodded, trying to listen to her meister's advice. They made their way to the classroom and sat down. But they weren't even thirty minutes in class before they heard Stein call their names, together with Kid, Liz and Patti. "You are expected in the Death room. Shinigami wants to see you."

Confused, Tsubaki looked over to her meister. Black*Star looked worried as well, which caused a great feeling of unease in Tsubaki's stomach.

The team got up and left the classroom, feeling the curious eyes of their classmates on their back.

Once they were in the hallway they started to talk.

"Have any of you seen Soul?" Tsubaki asked. Everyone shook their heads.

Tsubaki frowned as they continued their walk to the Death room. Shinigami-sama was already waiting for them when they walked in.

"Hello, hi how ya doing?" The god asked with a bright voice.

"Why did we have to come?" Black*Star asked, not in the mood for the god's formalities.

"Ah yeah, it's about Soul."

That caught the team's attention. "What do you mean, it's about Soul?" Liz asked, wording everyone's thoughts.

"It appears he has gone missing." The kids – young adults, Shinigami realized – still looked confused. "Saturday morning Spirit Albarn came across Soul, they went to Stein but Soul left soon after a falling out. Apparently when Spirit left Stein's residence, he found Soul's motorcycle, keys still in the ignition. He called me soon after, feeling alarmed. They had been talking about the witch that killed Maka."

Alarm bells rang loudly inside Tsubaki's head. "You think - ?" she started but couldn't finish the sentence.

But Shinigami understood what the weapon wanted to say, and nodded, his bright spirit faltering a little. "We're not sure yet but we have to act like he's been taken by the witch."

"This can't be happening." Liz muttered with dismay. "We've already lost Maka because of that bitch. What more does she want from us?"

"We have to look for him." Black*Star announced and was already on his way to the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. The blue haired ninja looked over and saw it was Kid.

"We shouldn't jump on this right away Black*Star," the junior death god said. "We're not sure if it is really her."

"Why else would Soul disappear?"

"Maybe he wanted to leave Death City." Kid suggested

"Why would he want that?"

Kid raised a brow. "Haven't you noticed how Soul was acting lately? How he was when we visited Maka's grave? He was completely off."

Black*Star frowned, trying to recall Soul's behavior that afternoon. He'd acted like he always did, right? But then he remembered Soul's empty eyes when he realized Maka was almost turning eighteen before the battle. He looked like he blamed himself for it but Black*Star had brushed it away when they started cleaning her grave.

Kid, noticing how Black*Star mentally answered his question, nodded somberly. "I can understand how Soul would want to leave this place. So much painful memories. Maybe he just needed a break."

"He'd tell us." Tsubaki protested. "We're his friends, we would support him."

"Admit it Tsubaki, ever since Maka's passing he hadn't been really open with us."

Tsubaki bit her lip. Though Kid's words were harsh, they were true and that stung. Soul had shut himself off from the group.

"Still," she said, determined. "We have to look for him."

"Great, now that that's settled, let's go!" Black*Star said and took off.

"I just hope he's doing okay," Liz mumbled as she followed the boy, Patti in tow.

Tsubaki, Death the Kid and Shinigami were left, all looking concerned.

"Do you really think Soul took off like that?" Tsubaki asked.

Kid shook his head. "I just didn't want them to believe that he'd fallen in the hands of the witch."

Tsubaki nodded. "Do you think -?"

Kid nodded before Tsubaki could finish her question. "I think it's time."

**To: Parisian devision**

**From: Death the Kid **

**Subject: We need you.**

**We believe that witch Meredith has taken Soul. Please come to us at once. We need you.**

The reply came five minutes after Kid had sent the original message. The group was scouting Death City for a trace of Soul. He called Tsubaki over to walk next to him as he opened the message. It was a two word reply.

**To: Death the Kid**

**From: Parisian devision**

**Subject: Re: We need you.**

**I'm coming.**

Death sighed and looked at Tsubaki, who looked worried at the screen. "Time to tell them, I guess."

_***Hey guys, I haven't noticed until now that this chapter was... weird looking. My deepest apologies for not fixing it sooner... I hadn't checked if it was okay /  
So I've uploaded again and I hope it's now working right!**_

_**New chapter will be up soon!**_


	8. Welcome back

Hands clutched skirt fabric nervously as eyes scanned the airport for anyone familiar. She found the familiar face of Sid, standing in the back. She walked up to him and bowed a little.

"Sid, what's the situation?" she asked, concerned.

Sid looked at the young woman, eyebrows knit together in a frown. "Still no trace. Kid and the team are scouting the city for traces."

The woman nodded. She should've figured. It took her six months to even find a trace of the witch.

"Let's go then," She said, confidently.

Sid nodded. A small smile slipped on his mouth. "Welcome back Maka Albarn."

Maka nodded. "It's good to be home."

"Guys, I need to tell you something." Kid said when they were back in Shibusen. Everyone was feeling down because they hadn't found anything that could lead them to Soul.

Black*Star, trying to keep the mood up, said, "No need to tell that you secretly worship me. I already knew that."

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki protested. "Not now."

The ninja frowned. Since when does Tsubaki protest against his antics? He looked at his weapon and saw her clutching her ponytail. What was going on?

"Ten months ago I made a decision that affected this team," Kid started, his voice solemn. "As you guys knew, Maka was in a pretty bad shape after the battle with witch Meredith. She lost a lot of blood, but the doctors were able to stabilize her."

Black*Star's mouth dropped in surprise. "What-?"

"Let me finish," Kid said. His voice not tolerating objections. "She was moved to a hospital in Boston, far from us, so she could recover. I asked my father and after getting permission, I got her transferred to our Parisian devision, getting a fake identity to which non of us had access to."

"She's alive?" Patti asked with disbelieve.

Kid looked away, not daring to look his team in the eye, and nodded. "As I said, I take full responsibility. If anyone has any issues, they should be directed towards me."

"Any issues?" Black*Star asked, starting to feel furious. He was about to jump on the man standing before him, weren't for the footsteps approaching them. Everyone turned and there she stood.

"Oh my god," Liz gasped.

Maka looked almost scared at her former team mates. She gave Kid and Tsubaki a nod, then her eyes went to Liz and the others.

Patti was the first to react. She ran over to Maka and threw her arms around the girl. "I missed you so much," she cried.

Maka wrapped her arms around her smaller friend. "I missed you too." She mumbled. "I'm so sorry." When she pulled back she was met by the disbelieving eyes of Black*Star. "I never wanted it to happen. I'm so sorry."

Maka walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't deserve it."

Black*Star was speechless. He just took his childhood friend in. She was real. She was alive. He should be happy but all he could feel was betrayal. "Why?" was all he could say.

"Maka needed to go in protection since the witch was still alive. It was too risky for her to stay with us." Kid answered. "Meredith wanted Maka dead because she killed Medusa."

"I'll explain everything but first I need to know what is going on with Soul." Maka promised. She walked over to Tsubaki and Kid, eyes filled with concern.

"We were unable to find anything Maka, I'm sorry." Tsubaki said dismayed.

"Can you still use your soul perception?" Liz asked.

Maka shook her head. "I lost a lot of power when I put a piece of my soul in the witch."

"What about the soul resonance?" a new voice asked.

Everyone turned and saw Stein standing in the doorway, looking seriously at Maka. "I – I don't know." she admitted.

"Soul thought you were still in resonance when you died," Stein made quote signs at the 'died' part. "Are you?"

Maka closed her eyes, trying to feel for a sign of Soul's wavelength. It was there, very weak but still there. She opened her eyes and nodded at the scientist. "I can feel him."

"Maybe you can use it to find him."

"I'll try." Maka promised. "But I don't have a weapon now. I'm still pretty useless."

"You do have a weapon." Spirit Albarn walked the room in, to his daughter. "I'm at your disposal."

"Papa," Maka whispered, surprised.

Spirit smiled a little, fighting the urge to pull his daughter in a bear hug. "We'll catch up later okay? Now we need to find your weapon."

Maka, though her eyes were watering, nodded. She hated to admit it but she kind of missed her father. Over the past couple of months she realized that her father did love her. He just didn't know how to express it.

"Ready?" Kid asked.

The team nodded and they left the Death room. Everyone except Black*Star.

Tsubaki noticed and stopped as well, turning to her meister. "Black*Star, are you coming?" she asked.

"You knew?" he asked, ignoring Tsubaki's question.

Tsubaki's mood fell in a black pit. "I'm sorry Black*Star."

"So that's why you were acting so nervous lately? Because you knew this was going to happen?"

Tsubaki nodded. "I heard you talking to Soul about the rumor. I knew things would go wrong anytime soon after that."

"And you couldn't tell me?" Black*Star yelled, letting the anger reach the surface.

Tsubaki flinched but nodded. She'd hated to lie to her partner. It felt like someone was peeling her skin off. "I'm so sorry Black*Star."

"If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at me." Kid's voice came from behind Tsubaki.

Black*Star looked up and saw him standing alone, looking solemnly back at him. "Like hell I am angry at you." he said. Tsubaki didn't have a choice. She was sworn to keep the secret. But him. "You could've told us! You should've trusted us!"

"It's not like I didn't trust you," Kid said. "It's more like I didn't want to risk the witch finding out that Maka was alive."

Black*Star growled and left the room. He couldn't be near Kid right now, for he knew he'd hurt him if he heard anymore of his shit.

Tsubaki looked like she was about to cry. "He hates me," she whispered when Black*Star was out of hearing reach.

Kid shook his head. "He doesn't, he's just really upset."

"What's the difference?"

"He doesn't hate you Tsubaki, he can't do that. He loves you too much for that."

Tsubaki looked at Kid. "I hope you're right."

Kid smiled a little. "Come on, the others need us.

Maka looked nervously around her. Where could he be? She thought anxiously.

She reached for the connection again and noticed it was still hanging on. In fact, it seemed to be a little stronger than moments ago.

"Maka," Spirit said from his weapon form, pulling Maka out of concentration. "Think logically, where could Meredith possibly hide Soul?"

"M-maybe she'd returned to her liar?" Maka suggested.

"Wouldn't that be a little too obvious?" Liz asked, also turned into weapon.

"It's not like she's got anywhere else to go."

"What about Medusa's hide out?" Black*Star suggested.

"Sounds logic, I mean, she was kind of obsessed with her." Spirit agreed.

"Medusa's liar it is." Kid decided.

The trip to the liar was quiet. Everyone was lost in their own thought. All Maka could think about was her partner. Was he okay? Was he hurt? How will he react when he sees her? Did he miss her like she missed him? Her thoughts were cut short when she heard someone scream. Soul!

"Maka?" Kid said, worried. He'd noticed the panicked look in the meister's eyes.

"Did you hear that?" Maka asked, looking around for the source of the scream.

"What? I didn't hear anything!" Black*Stair said. He was looking around, alarmed.

"It was Soul. I heard him scream."

"We're getting closer. Be prepared for ambushes." Kid said.

_***Finally the mystery e-mailer is revealed. Some may've seen it coming. I hope it wasn't TOO obvious. :3 Hope you like the chapter. Not sure yet when I'll update again.  
Stay cool!***_


	9. What is happening?

Soul felt himself move in and out of consciousness. It wasn't until he heard a voice call his name. "Soul! Wake up Soul."

Soul opened his eyes and found Maka bended over him. "Maka?" He asked in hoarse voice. He must be dreaming. But when Soul shook his head to clear it, she was still standing there. Green eyes looking extremely anxious back at him. "How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"You – you died."

Maka frowned. "What are you talking about? Look, there's no time for this. We're leaving this dump." She took his arm and started tugging on it.

Soul – dumbfound – stood up on his feet. He looked his meister over. She looked back at him, worried.

Before he could think about it, he pulled her in his arms. She smelled like strawberries, soap and sweat. He felt her chest rising and falling against his own. "You're alive." he mumbled.

Maka scoffed. "Well not for long if we stay here like a bunch of idiots. Come on Soul."

Soul ignored her. Carefully he pulled away as he drank the sight of emerald green eyes in. "Was it all a dream?"

Maka shook her head, to Soul's surprise. But before he could second guess it, he felt something stab him in the chest. He looked down and saw Maka holding the knife that was buried in him.

Maka was still looking at him, a twisted wide grin plastered on her face. "You know it is your fault that she's dead." she said in a sing song voice. "You said you'd protect her and yet you failed. You're a bad weapon!" Maka twisted the knife in Soul's body, black blood oozing out of the wound in fast portions. "Bad weapons don't deserve to live."

Soul watched how Maka's beautiful faced morphed into Meredith's. "You fucking -!" his words got caught in his throat when Meredith pulled the knife back.

"Stay nice!" Meredith chided.

"Like hell." Soul groaned.

Meredith started to walk around the young man. "You know, that whole Black Blood thing is quite something. You're so easy to torture now, without actually hurting you physically. You're mind is just messed up enough to do that."

So this wasn't real? Soul thought confused. This was all in his head?

Meredith nodded as if she could hear his thoughts. Which she probably did since they were in his head. "We're going to have some fun!" The woman said with a sadistic smile on her lips.

"Maka, watch out!" Spirt called from his weapon form as he was used to deflect a pre Kishin's attack.

Maka grunted, feeling the impact of the blow run through her body. It had been too long since she wielded a scythe, she realized. When she was in Paris she rarely went on missions. It didn't feel right to take another partner. So she spend her time looking for information and clues about Meredith.

Maka pounced at the Kishin, throwing the scythe's blade in it's face. It split in half before dissolving, leaving nothing but a red glowing orb behind.

"I think that's the last one." Spirit said.

"Better be." Maka huffed.

"Hanging in there kid?"

Maka saw her father looking worriedly at her from the reflection of his scythe. She nodded and started running after her team mates. They'd split up after running in a trap near Medusa's liar.

Maka found Black*Star battling three Pre Kishin's at once. When he caught sight of Maka he nudged his head to where Kid had gone to. "Find Soul." He shouted before he thrusted Chain Scythe into one the Kishins.

Maka obeyed after giving her friend one last glance. A single thought guided her through the maze of hallways. I'm coming for you_ Soul._

**_*Okay fuck I'm sorry for this crappy chapter. School has started again and I'm really busy. I'm working on a new chapter right now. Sorry again!*_**


	10. Fight or Flight?

What was real? What wasn't? Soul didn't know anymore.

'Maka' visited every now and then, cutting him open with her scythe arm, talking about the battle over and over. Soul didn't know what messed him up most, the physical or mental abuse.

"Soul," There she was again. Or at least, the foul image of her. "Soul! Your Maka is back!"

Soul grunted. "Don't you dare pretend you are Maka. You're nothing like my meister."

"Oh the loyalty is boundless. Even in death. It's almost touching." Maka appeared in Soul's field of vision. She wore a short, more revealing version of the dress Maka wore in the Black Room. When her gloved hand touched Soul, he felt a stinging pain run through him. "But I know what you really wanted."

Soul shuddered. "You don't know anything about me."

Maka shook her head. "You seem to forget we are in your head Soul. I know everything about you. Your memories, your feelings," She took another step to him. Her face only inches apart from his neck. "Your desires."

Soul kept quiet, not willing to give in. But he knew he was screwed.

"You wanted your meister to be yours. You were in love with her. But you didn't make a move on her because of her distrust in men." Maka tried to look Soul in the eye but the Scythe averted his gaze elsewhere. "Little did you know she was in love with you as well."

Soul's head snapped back. "Stop it." he growled. Don't go there, he begged. Don't give me these lies.

"I'm not lying pretty boy. Your meister was head over heels for you."

Soul's fight or flight instinct kicked in, this time choosing the fighting side. As far as he could fight from his restrains. "I swear to Death I will kill you."

Meredith/Maka seemed unimpressed. "Until then, want to watch a movie?" What the fuck?

A white screen rose from the floor, starting to show images and short videos of Maka, his Maka, when she was alive and happy and smiling.

And then Soul knew, the mental abuse was far more worse than the physical.

Maka wandered through the many hallways. Why this place again? She thought with gritted teeth. The memory of Crona dying in her arms flashed before her eyes but she didn't let it falter her steady pace. It only made her resolve on finding Soul stronger. I will not lose my weapon! Not again!

"Maka over here!" Death the Kid shouted.

Maka looked up and saw the young Shinigami crouched over something laying on the floor. When she joined him she felt blood leave her face. Blood.

Not normal blood. No, this was black blood. "Soul." she mumbled stunned.

"He shouldn't be far now. The blood is fresh." Kid said, ever so professional.

"Maka, stay focused."

Maka didn't know she was breathing heavy until her father pulled her out of her daze. Black blood was never a good thing. What was going on with Soul? Was he alright? Did the Red Demon take over? Or worse...?

"Maka!" Kid shook the younger meister a couple of times. "Your father's right, stay focused. You can't lose it now that Soul is so close."

Maka shook her head to clear it. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Kid nodded in understanding. "I know you're worried about him." He said ever so patiently. "We all are. But we will find him. We're so close now."

Maka nodded too. "Thanks Kid."

Kid gave her a little smile and the straightened up. The sound of running footsteps made the two turn around. Black*Star was catching up, big grin on his face.

"They stood no chance against a god like me!" he cheered when he joined Maka and Kid.

Maka couldn't help but chuckle. She couldn't believe she was thinking this – and would never admit it out loud to him – but she kind of missed Black*Star's shenanigans.

The team set their course, following the trail of blood. They reached a closed door, leading to the grand room where Medusa had taken hiding.

The door was closed and when Maka tried to slam it open with her shoulder, it didn't even budge.

"Move aside peasants." Black*Star said. He took a couple of steps back and then started to run to the door.

When he almost reached the door he jumped and threw his full body weight in it. At first it didn't look like it was any use, but then cracks started to form in the door.

Soon it crumbled apart, ending as a pile of rubble on the floor.

The team – Maka and Kid in person and Spirit and the Thompson sisters from their weapon form – looked with amazement at the ninja. Tsubaki – still in her weapon form – beamed with pride.

"Oh don't act so surprised!" Black*Star shouted and then took off.

Maka and Kid followed suit.

******************************************************************  
Holy crap this took me forever! I'm so sorry! I'm very busy with my new school and my job... I hope it'll get better very soon. Thank you for sticking around and I hope I'll post a new chapter very soon.  
Let me know what you think about it!**


	11. Meet Again

The first thing Maka noticed when she entered the room was the stench. It smelled like rotting flesh.

Then she saw Soul, sprawled on the floor, covered by a toxic green haze.

"Soul!" Maka gasped and was about to jump at her ex-partner, weren't it for Black*Star. The ninja grabbed his fellow meister by the arm, pulling her back. "Black*Star what the -?"

"In case you've missed the curse that covers Soul, there's a curse that covers Soul." Black*Star deadpanned.

Maka scowled but stepped back. "Do you have a different plan?"

"Soul's under some kind of possession, in order to break it, we must sever the connection between him and Meredith."

"Finding Meredith it is."

"Looking for someone?" The voice of witch Meredith made the team turn around.

Maka gripped Spirit tighter. "Finally!"

Meredith's eyes met the meister's. Immediately there fell a frown on the woman's voice. "Sou you survived after all?"

"I wouldn't be able to do my handy trick if I wasn't." Maka sneered, though she didn't feel brave at all. Only her insides twist and turn. After ten months she finally met face to face with the person that destroyed her peaceful life. Would she be able to kill her? Even if the witch was weakened, she had lost some of her own powers too. Besides, could she resonate with her father if it was necessary?

"You little bitch!" Meredith raised her hand, a green ball of electricity formed from her palm, and aimed at Maka.

Maka froze in fear but she got pulled out of it when Black*Star kicked her out of the daze, literally. She fell on the ground disorientated, while Black*Star pounced on the witch.

"Maka get up!" Kid shouted while he started firing bullets at Meredith.

Maka climbed back on her feet, eyes focused on the witch. The woman – despite her decaying form – dodged away from Black*Star's attacks.

_There must be a way to get a hit on her!_ She thought to herself. _Concentrate damn it!_

And then she noticed. Her back. It was open, ready for Maka to attack. She jumped at her, swinging Spirit at her open back but just when she was about to hit her, the witch turned and thrusted her fist in the meister's stomach.

Maka fell back, gasping for breath. "Fuck," she grunted out.

"Maka!" Spirit shouted.

"I'm fine." Maka stumbled on her feet, leaning heavily on her father. "Just - !" Maka's words got cut off by a sharp pain running through her body. She fell back on the ground, limbs spasming and twitching.

"Maka!" Kid shouted.

Then her world turned black.

Soul had been alone for ten minutes now. He could hear a fight going on from a distance. People shouting, metal meeting metal and then an all too familiar scream. _Maka?_

Footsteps approached him and Soul immediately tensed up in his restraints. But to his surprise, the Black Room started changing. Its walls started to shine a bright blue light before they completely became white. His handcuffs melted away, making him drop like dead weight on the ground.

Soul grunted. "Son of a-"

"Soul?" Maka called. _No! Please not again!_

And there she was, long black dress, black ribbons, disorientated green emeralds. She looked like the original Maka, the one he loved, but that couldn't be.

The woman in Maka's form ran up to Soul, trying to let him sit against the wall. "Soul? Soul can you hear me?"

Soul – though feeling weak because of his injuries – managed to bear his teeth at the intruder. "Get the fuck away."

Maka staggered back from him. "Soul, what happened to you?" she asked. "What did she do to you?"

"Stop fucking around. I know it's you."

Maka's eyes dropped. "I'm so sorry Soul. For all what happened." she whispered. She reached her hand out to his face but Soul flinched away. Still, Maka continued as if she didn't notice. "I'll fix it Soul. I'll make sure everything will be okay."

Soul's heart ached at her words. Oh how he wished she was real. That her words could be true. But this was all in his head.

"I'm getting us out of here." But before Maka could do anything, she got thrown away from Soul.

"Maka!" He couldn't help but shout.

Maka groaned and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm okay. Don't worry... about me."

Soul wanted to go after her, to make sure she was okay – after all, the instinct of protecting his meister never faded, even if she was just a projection of his subconscious – but was stopped by a force pressing him against the wall.

"Well isn't this touching?" Meredith's voice called from the dark. "A little reunion."

"You son of a-!" Soul groaned.

Meredith walked up to Maka, poking her in the ribs with the tip of her shoe. Maka flinched. "So you decided to pay your weapon a little visit?"

"You won't get away with this. I'll make you pay for what you've done to Soul."

Meredith broke out in laughter. Uncontrollable, hysterical laughter. "And how? You've lost a lot of power when you decided to pull that stunt off."

Maka got up on her hands and knees, wiping blood from her lips. "You don't know I'm capable of." she whispered before she pounced at the witch.

**_*sweats nervously while posting this chapter* for two reasons:  
_1: I've appearently posted chapter ten again as chapter 11... which is really dumb of me for not checking... (thanks vXxBlackRabbitXv and ashleyslife for letting me know)  
And 2 for not updating any sooner because hot damn, it has been long. There has been some shit going on... But thank you for sticking around and I hope you liked this chapter.  
I'm just busy writing the next one ^_^  
Let me know what you think about it and I hope to see you soon!**


	12. Battles (ultra short chapter, I'm sorry)

Maka nailed Meredith to the ground and punched the woman in the face. It may not have done what she hoped to – which meant knocking her completely out – but it did stun her for a moment, giving her time to search for her soul in the witch.

It flickered back at her and for a moment Maka felt complete again. Then the moment got shattered into a million pieces when Meredith threw her back.

Black*Star lost count at how many attacks he had thrown at the witch. And how many times he'd missed.

_For an old rotting witch she's quite tough._ The ninja thought through gritted teeth.

He checked on Maka for a second. She was laying on the ground, unconscious.

When Maka had collapsed no one of the team knew what to do. Spirit had transformed back to his human form and tried to wake his daughter but it was no use.

Then a blue glow – similar to Soul's green haze – had started to form around her body as if it was a shield.

From then on, Meredith had tried to get near Maka but Black*Star, Kid and Spirit had managed to prevent it from happening. They fired their attacks on the decaying woman and though it did not do much damage, it did keep her from reaching Maka. For now that seemed to be good enough, if only Maka would wake up.

Black*Star's attention got pulled back when he heard someone scream. It was the witch.

Meredith was doubled over on the ground, breathing heavily while looking anxiously from Kid to Black*Star and then Spirit.

The old man was standing in a fighting pose, his arm transformed in a scythe.

Black*Star couldn't help but think of Soul when he saw the familiar pose. How many times had he seen his friend stand like that to protect Maka?

_Soul better be alright or I'll kick his ass! _The ninja thought.

Meredith shrieked again and made another attempt to go for Maka, throwing herself at the unconscious girl but was stopped by Kid, firing a stream of bullets at her.

Black*Star – seeing an opportunity for an attack – ran up to the slowed down witch. While running he shouted for Tsubaki to activate the Speed Star ability. After a confirmation from the weapon Black*Star lashed out to Meredith with Tsubaki, moving swiftly around his target in incredible speed to hit her multiple times.

"I will have your soul!" Maka said, determined. "If it is the last thing I'll do."

"I can fix that." Meredith smirked, though it was clear to see that she was worried.

Maka had called out to her soul whenever she was close enough, giving Meredith immense pain. The shard of soul wanted to be reunited with its owner and it seemed like it would break through her body to reach it. Meredith was nearing her end and both she and the meister knew it.

But the task of calling out to her soul did take a tole on Maka. She was running out of energy. If only she had her weapon. Then this could be over in a minute.

Maka shot a look at Soul. Meredith had released him because she was too busy dodging Maka's hits. He was laying on the floor, barely conscious. Could he even get unconscious since they were already in his head? Maka wondered.

Long time to think about it wasn't there since Meredith started to advance on her.

_I have to try. _Maka thought when she jumped away from the witch. "Soul!" Soul's head raised a couple of inches. "I know you don't believe I'm real. I don't care. I just want to get you out of me. So please, transform and we can end this."

Maka's words seemed to spark something in Soul's eyes as he slowly raised himself to his knees.

Maka saw how he bared his teeth in a wild grin before his form changed into an all to familiar black and red scythe. He flew at her and Maka caught him easily, as if they had never been separated.

Maka found herself smirking too, for she knew things finally would turn for the better.

***Short chapter is short... sorry but I'm kind of getting stuck with the story... I hope I can let Soul and Maka back in the normal world in the next chap and I think after that, things will go better. I'm strangely looking forward to writing angst (don't hate me). Thank you for the sweet reviews, I'll try my best to write a new chapter. Stay cool***


	13. Waking Up

It felt too good. Even if she wasn't real, he liked to pretend that it was. Maka was wielding him, parrying attacks and throwing him at the witch. And they were strong as ever. The woman got forced back against the wall when Maka threw one particular forceful punch at her, right in the chest. A white light emerged from Meredith's body, shrieks rose from her throat and she started thrashing against the wall.  
And then it was suddenly over.  
A final, "Soul," called after him before he felt himself being yanked away from Maka's hands.

There were hands on his body, concerned murmurs, the familiar steady beeps of a heart monitor  
"Is he okay? Is he alive?" He suddenly heard Maka ask from a distance. Her voice was panicked and worried. Still dreaming huh? Soul thought bitterly.  
"Maka you have to stay back."  
"I need to know if he's alive Kid!"  
Kid? What was Kid doing in his dreams?  
"Maka you're bleeding, starving and barely standing straight. You need to rest."  
Soul heard a door slam open and a strangled cry. "No!"  
"Maka," Kid's voice joined. "He's alive. The witch took a lot of energy from him, he was tortured, he needs time to heal."  
"Just give me a few Kid. I'll be gone in a minute. Please."  
Soul could hear Kid sigh before he spoke again, "Fine. Ten minutes, I can't give you more." The footsteps and a door closing before complete silence. A hand touched his cheek and he immediately knew it was hers. Warm, comforting. For one second he thought he felt a flicker of her soul calling out to him but that couldn't be. Right?  
Soul tried to open his eyes. A strip of light came into vision before his eyes started adjusting to its surroundings. A blonde haired head was resting on his chest, strange sobbing noises coming from it before he realized it was crying. Not it. She. "Maka?" he groaned. His mouth felt like it had been filled with cotton balls.  
The head flew up, green orbs meeting his. They were filled to the brim with tears, wide in surprise. "Soul?"  
No this couldn't be. There was no way his meister would be sitting next to him, saying his name. Had his brain gone to scrambled eggs?  
"Soul?" Maka repeated, now sounding worried.  
He didn't realize until now that he had started shaking violently. "This can't be." he whispered. "You can't be her. You're not my Maka."  
"Soul please-" Maka took a step to her weapon.  
"No, fuck off!" Soul growled. He didn't know where he found the energy but he was pushing himself up on the bed. His eyes were focused on the woman that looked like the Maka he knew.  
"Soul what are you-?"  
Soul jumped up and pushed the confused meister to the wall. One hand was around her throat, the other pulled back, transformed in a scythe. Maka whimpered but didn't cry for help. Not until Soul started tightening his grip on her throat.  
And as soon as she did, the door got thrown open and Black*Star was standing in the doorway. "Soul what the fuck are you doing!" he shouted when he got a hold of the situation.  
Maka was lifted a couple of inches from the floor, clutching at Soul's hand that was holding her.  
Black*Star jumped at the weapon and threw him back to the other side of the room.  
"No don't hurt him!" Maka whimpered, gasping for breath. "He doesn't understand."  
"Black*Star what the hell?" Soul shouted. The throw hadn't hurt him much. He was still on his feet but he felt the familiar sting of stitches tugging on his skin.  
He just hoped Stein hadn't been fixing him up. One scar was enough.  
"I did this for your own good." Black*Star replied. His voice was steady and serious though his eyes pleaded for Soul to believe him.  
"Have you gone insane? This isn't Maka! This is a trap. A trick and you're falling for it. This can't be Maka! She died. She is dead." Soul had gone in a state of hysteria. He was confused and hurting all over. This isn't Maka, he told himself, she can't be her. This is some sick joke of the Oni.  
"Black*Star what is going on?" Kid asked, joining the two meisters and the weapon in the hospital room. "I heard shouting and -!"  
"Kid what is going on? What is this?" Soul pointed at Maka.  
"Soul, you need to calm down."  
"Why are you all telling me to calm down? Can't you see that she isn't real. This can't be Maka!"  
"Soul please!"  
But Soul couldn't take it anymore. He felt his vision blur, the stitches had gone open and he was bleeding again. Dizziness taking over, he started to collapse.  
Two pair of hands caught him and he heard Kid shout for a doctor. Maka's shocked face was the last thing he saw.

He didn't think she was real. The words filled her head like a mantra, mocking her.  
Maka felt like losing her insanity. Or maybe she already had.  
After she had destroyed Meredith she got thrown out of Soul's Black Room, finding herself on the ground near Soul. The first thing she'd done was check on her weapon. He was unconscious and barely breathing. Maka had desperately cried for Black*Star while Kid and Spirit dealt with the witch. Not like that was needed. Meredith's life form had died with the one in Soul's head. She was nothing but a glowing red orb hovering over the ground. Next to it was another soul, though incredibly smaller and blue. Maka's missing shard.  
It had drifted back to her, entering her through her chest and she had immediately lost consciousness.  
When she woke up she was in a hospital bed. Bandages covered most of her limbs and there was a heart monitor hooked to her body. Spirit was sitting in the corner of the room, asleep.  
He woke to the sound of loud quick beeps from the heart monitor and for one moment he thought his daughter was slipping away. Though when he opened his eyes he saw that Maka had pulled the clip from her finger that measured her heartbeat. "Maka what are you doing?"  
"I need to see him." Maka said as she threw her legs out of bed. As soon as she touched the cold floor, she felt her legs shake. Crap, how long had she been out?  
"Four days." Spirit answered. Maka hadn't realized she'd spoken her thoughts out loud.  
"So long? What happened? Where's Soul? Is he okay?"  
"Soul's okay. He's still unconscious but stable. The doctors say it shouldn't be long until he wakes up."  
"I have to see him." Maka took a couple of wobbly steps to the door  
Maka you can't be serious. You've just woken up yourself. You need to rest. It's not wise to exhaust your body."  
"I'm not exhausting anything papa. I just need to get to Soul."  
A hand stopped Maka from going any further. Spirit was standing behind his daughter, a look of worry in his eyes. It made Maka immediately anxious. Her papa was holding something from her. "What?"  
"Soul might not believe you are real. He still thinks he lost you in your first battle with Meredith."  
"He'll know it's me." Maka said stubbornly and then left the room.  
Boy had she been wrong.

Maka touched her throat. She could still feel his fingers on the hot skin when he'd nearly chocked her.  
"Maka!" Tsubaki called though the hallway. The meister raised her head and was met by the warm embrace of the taller weapon. "I'm so happy you're okay!"  
"He doesn't think I'm real." Maka only whispered.  
Tsubaki stiffened. "What do you mean?"  
"Soul, he still thinks I'm dead. When he woke up, he looked like he saw a ghost. But when I tried to talk to him he went mad and he – he tried to -" Maka couldn't finish the sentence for she broke down in tears.  
Tsubaki held the meister close, trying to assure her that it would be okay. That they'd figure it out. But she wasn't so sure herself.  
What she did know was that this was going to be a rough period for the whole team.

***Wow another chapter this week! And it's long! Have I gone mad? No, my internet was sucking ass so that left me time to work on this /I'm sorry that I didn't really get into the whole defeating-Meredith part but I suck at writing fight scenes... doing this was already a pain. I hope you'll forgive /So, let the angst and shizzle begin... I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope I'll update soon.***


	14. Truth is out

"Soul? Can you hear me?"

"Fuck off."

"I take that as a yes."

Soul groaned. What could Kid possibly want from him? Didn't he deserve some time off for all the crap he'd been through? "What?"

"We need to talk."

"Don't want to. Go away."

"It's about Maka."

If Soul was a dog, his ears would've twitched in attention. But since he wasn't, he just opened one eye, looking the young Shinigami over. "What could there possibly be said about her? She's dead, for almost a year now." Kid was already shaking his head before Soul had finished the sentence. "What?"

"I need to tell you something. You'll not going to like it but you have to hear me out." Soul tensed up but nodded. Kid took a deep sigh. This was going to be hard but he guessed he deserved it. After all, coming up with such an intricate lie would have consequences. "When Maka was in surgery after your battle with Meredith, she managed to hang on."

"What?"

Kid continued as if he didn't hear the scythe. "The doctors were able to stabilize her. She got transferred to Boston to recover."

"Wait, hold on, so you say-!"

"I got her moved to Paris so she would be safe from Meredith. Maka was only allowed to contact Tsubaki or me."

"Kid are you for real?" Soul shouted. "Maka was alive. And you kept her away from me? From us, your friends? How could you?"

"Soul listen -"

"No you listen. Do you have any idea how fucked up we were when Maka was gone? How fucked up I was? Did it even occur to you what you might've done to us when you came of with this stupid idea?"

"I was well aware of it Soul," Kid replied ever so calmly. "But did you want Maka to be in danger?"

"I would've protected her with my damn life and you know it."

"But would that be enough? You were a witness to Meredith's powers Soul, we all were. You wouldn't be able to protect her. Not on your own."

Soul scowled, hating the idea that Kid was right. That he wouldn't stand a chance against Meredith. "It was still a fucked up plan Kid."

"I know. And I'm sorry but it was for Maka's own good."

A thought snapped into Soul's mind, startling him. "But if Maka is still alive, does that mean-?" Kid nodded sorrowfully. "Fuck!" He tried to kill his meister! What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Soul, you didn't know."

"I should've know. She's my meister for Death's sake!"

"Your Soul connection has gone haywire."

Before Soul could fire a reply back there was a knock. "Come in." Kid called.

The door opened and it was Liz to Soul's surprise, dismay relief, he didn't know what to feel about anything for the moment.

"Liz," Kid said gently.

The weapon eyed her meister first, then Soul, nervously. "Is everything okay? I heard what happened with-"

"We're fine." Soul interrupted.

"Sis! Is Soulie okay?" Patti asked and appeared in the doorway too.

"We're fine. I'm fine. Now get the fuck out!" Soul wasn't in the mood for his over protective friends. He still had to process the whole Maka-is-still-alive idea.

Patti pouted. "Sowwy Soul. We'll leave you alone now. Do you want something?"

"I just want to be left alone."

The Thompson sister quickly left the room, scared for the weapon's rage. Kid followed them a little slower. Before he left, he looked Soul over. "I am not regretting my choice Soul," he said. "Maka is still alive, that's all what matters."

Then he closed the door behind him and Soul was all alone.

Maka was sitting in the hospital cafeteria, staring at the too bright white table. She'd fucked up.

She should've refused Kid's offer(?) to go to Paris for protective custody.

"Maka?" The meister looked up, only to be met by her father's pitiful eyes.

"You were right papa. He didn't think I was real."

"I'm sorry pumpkin."

Maka shook her head. "I should've known better. I was just too naive to believe it."

"He'll come around. Kid has been talking with him. The truth is out."

"I'm not sure that's a good thing." Maka mumbled, more to herself than her father. "Maybe I just should've left when Meredith was destroyed. Gone back to Paris or whatever. I messed everyone's life up."

"Don't say that Maka."

Maka raised her head. Her eyes were burning and there was rage running through her veins. "Well didn't I? Black*Star can't even look me in the eyes, Liz and Patti don't know what to do and Soul – he tried to kill me papa! The only people who are doing fine are Kid and Tsu. Well they'd still be fine if I left."

"It's all just a phase. They'll turn around."

"But it'll never be the same as it used to, papa. Never."

Spirit went quiet at his daughter's words, knowing she was right. But it wouldn't do the group any good if she left again. "Don't leave."

"I don't want to but I see no other choice."

"Since when does my daughter back away from tough situations?"

Maka's face fell. "I'm sorry to let you down papa." She stood up and was about to leave, wasn't it for her father's grasp on her wrist.

"Stay. Even if it's just for a while," Spirit pleaded. "Let them get used to you. If it doesn't get any better, you can leave. But please, at least give them a chance."

Maka swallowed hard. Her father was right. "Fine." she whispered. "But I'll find my own place in Death City. I will not unnecessarily interfere with their lives."

"That's all I'm asking."

**A/N **I. Am. Back.

Holy crap that has been a long time! I am so sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter... and I am not very happy with it but I hope you think it's not (that) bad. Working on a new chapter. thank you for sticking around 3


End file.
